Welcome to the next instalment of the #beautyinsider Q&As, where you can find out who is behind some of your favourite beauty brands, what they are working on and how they got there. This month’s guest is Dr Pauline Hili, Founder of Nourish London, a British organic, vegan and cruelty-free skincare brand. I came across this niche beauty brand a few years ago at an industry event where I sampled their Illuminating Face Shimmer. Since then my skin has enjoyed every Nourish product I’ve tried, my favourite to date being their Protect range. As my guest for this month’s beauty Q&A Dr Pauline shares her beginnings in organic beauty and what she gets up to at 5.30am.

Credit: Dr Pauline Hili, Founder of Nourish London

1. Let’s start from the beginning: every beauty brand has a story, how did the launch of Nourish come about? 

I started my career as a brewing chemist and loved working with plant material and yeast to make great beer. My true passion was skincare and when I had an opportunity to join Neal’s Yard Remedies it was a dream come true. It was the early days of organic skincare and it was marvellous to be at the grass roots drive for cleaner, greener skincare. I am very proud of all the award-winning products I was involved in developing for them as they grew from a niche brand to a high street name. Eventually I needed to formulate with more freedom and Nourish London was born.  There were new bio actives becoming available and I was keen to develop an organic range with the clinical performance of more conventional products. Products that would instantly hydrate the skin, improve the antioxidant reservoir in the skin and protect against daily pollution and stress. Products to make the skin healthier.

2. What does a typical day look like for you?

My day starts at 5.30am with a 6am swim in the local pool. That early morning swim is the best time to get clarity on the day and keep myself centered. At work we meet with the production team to view the week ahead.  As a small business there is always a lot to juggle. In an ideal day, I will spend some time formulating – however long you have been doing this, it remains one of the most interesting parts of the job and allows me to fulfil my creative side.

3. As founder of a natural beauty brand, what so far has been your proudest moment

Creating a factory in central London where we develop, formulate and make everything we sell. Having the whole business based at the factory gives us complete control of every part of the process and enables us to produce in small batches, reducing waste and ensuring freshness. The whole range is vegan, cruelty-free, organic and ethanol-free without any compromise on effectiveness.

4. Insider news please! What natural beauty trends would you say we should look out for?

• New and innovative ways to add cbd to products
• Circadian beauty regimes that work with skin’s natural cycles
• Zero waste products
• Upcycled products

Credit: Dr Pauline Hili, Founder of Nourish London

5. Can you share with us some of the star ingredients in your products and their benefits?

• Kale, found in our Kale 3D Cleanse, is the perfect ingredient for protecting the skin against pollution
• Rose of Jericho for its exceptional ability to hydrate the skin
• Hyaluronic acid for its universal role in the human body to keep joints and skin healthy

6. Let’s get personal: what do you get up to when you’re not surrounded by beauty products?

I love innovation and learning new things so I am always doing something a bit quirky. Cooking for friends also gives me an enormous amount of pleasure.

7. And finally – What exciting projects do you have coming up in the next few months?

We are very concerned about the effects of pollution on the skin.  We are working on products to protect the skin more effectively for longer. Innovation underpins the Nourish London brand and our organic Kale range is an example of this. Kale applied topically has recently been shown to play a key role in helping to reduce the effects on skin of air borne pollutants causing ageing of the skin. It contains an enzyme system that helps to breakdown pollutants and protect the skin. Griffonia extract, another anti-pollution ingredient which has the added benefit of stimulating serotonin the ‘happy hormone’, makes it the perfect cosmetic ingredient to boost the mood while actively protecting the skin from the day’s pollution. We are currently looking very closely at actives that boost the antioxidant capacity of the skin.

If you have any burning questions you’d like to ask Dr Pauline why not leave a comment below? Or you can get in touch with Nourish directly on Instagram.